milestones the api has made in the state of california and in the entire country. the caucus has a record of 42 members in the asian caucus in congress. one of their very first things we want to say is it was a young man who was the first member -- we want to make note of that. the reestablishment of the white house initiative by president obama was another accomplishment. president obama's cabinets has dr. steven chu.

the very first asian-american -- as ambassador to the republic of china. we have a lot of accomplishments. it was not that accident, my friends. everyone of you know that you work hard. all these things are done on purpose. i want to let you know that we also can boast twice as many asian-americans on federal benches. those of us to understand the impact of the supreme court and what it can do or on june, we know that having asian-americans on the federal bench is a line up for appointments to the supreme court. thank you very much for this opportunity. i want to say that silicon valley is the birthplace of high-tech.

silicon valley is the birthplace of norm. five minutes? thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, congressmen. we would have extended the five minutes if we got a karaoke's song. >> this event would have not been possible by the financial contributions of our sponsors. we want to thank chevron corp., wells fargo, mcdonald's, academy of arts university, at&t, southwest airlines. if you have not entered their raffled yet, do so later tonight. comcast, walmart, verizon, moon

star restaurant. >> we go from the greatest karaoke's singer in the house of congress to the self-proclaimed worst karaoke singing in public office. i would like to introduce california state controller, serving his second term. he takes a hard-line and took immediate action to weed out waste, fraud, and abuse of public funds. and to amend the state's finances more transparent and accountable to the public -- and to make the state's finances more transparent and accountable to the public. [applause] >> i will spare you what the

distinguished council president requested me to do, which is to sing for all of you. we used to go out for karaoke, but he would sing and i would leave. this is a magnificent evening. we gather tonight in celebration of asian-pacific heritage month. we take a moment to reflect upon our past, to understand the heroic struggles, obstacles, hardships that so many people, including this evening's tremendous honor read, had to overcome. this is a very special place. norm gave me the good fortune of putting my feet to the marble in the halls of congress. we will give the opportunity to 20 interns this summer so that

they can partake in the greatest democracy that has ever resided on this planet. this is also a tremendous significance as congressmen alluded to. this is the home were people left when i came to this country, when they had to leave the fields of california from farming. that applies to the filipinos and two others. they set foot in san francisco. a generation upon generation, of residence of san francisco had to endure the struggles and have made this city a very special place. i am very excited about the leadership that presides over san francisco today.

mayor lee, supervisor chiu, mar, chu, and we had the treasurer. this ought to be a moment in which we celebrate the aspirations and the fact that we have risen to the governance of this country. the fact that we have changed the opportunity. last night, i have the opportunity to listen to an 86- year-old honoree at the gathering last night. she's had spoken about how her life was different and the opportunities that were denied because she was jewish. because of the efforts of norm and mike and your leade in, asiy are not denied opportunities because of where they come from.

we are aspiring and we are leaving california and america in a new generation. -- leading california and america in a new generation. we have an obligation to lead in the 21st century. we are providing leadership in all areas that govern this country. technology, health, academia, commerce, art, entertainment, and government. today, we must come together, not only in celebration, but an acknowledgment of the work that lies ahead. we understand that this is a global economy. the opportunities are ones that we can only surpassed if we come together. we can win the future if we dream together, if we work

together. as a society, as an economy, the best is yet to comment. let me leave you with this last idea. every moment affords us an opportunity to change the world. let's seize that moment in each and every moment that succeeds that moment and let's do that together in celebration of our asian-pacific heritage and recognition of the great heritage as all the people that make up san francisco and california. we will truly honored this month, our heritage and our future. thank you very much. [applause] >> ok. all right. we have some competition on the

stage right now. >> a couple of other people we need to thank. we have a bunch of co-hosts, the san francisco board of supervisors. a round of applause, please. [applause] our event shares and co-chairs.

[reading names] >> all right, thank you. [applause] >> those people give money, so please applaud. >> next, i would like to introduce betty yee, the 2014 candidate for controller. john, maybe you could give her some advice. [applause] >> good evening. as we celebrate the contributions of some very important figures in our history, who have contributed to the development of our country,

every state, of this great city, as we honor the achievements of the congressmen, ongoing contributions, and our mayor in san francisco. each of us could not be doing the work we are doing, that we have done, without the doors of opportunity having been opened for each of us. making sure we are developing the leaders of tomorrow as part of the integral programs of leadership development and civic engagement. the internships program is designed to prepare college students to become our future leaders. by providing them with the opportunities to work with government agencies, they develop their leadership skills,

public policy experience, and broaden their civic engagement. they have demonstrated a dedication to the community, and they will continue in their engagement by working professionally with their fellow peers and mentors. warning in workshops to enhance their leadership skills emperor -- learning and workshops to enhance their leadership skills. we thank the local state and federal offices before hosting an intern and we think of the elected officials for their continued leadership and for opening the door for mentoring are new leaders. please join me in congratulating and welcoming the internships class of 2012. will you please join me on stage? [applause]

mayor, will you join us for a photograph, please?

>> thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. one more round of applause. [applause] if you look around you tonight, you will see poster board. celebrating, acknowledging, the first asian americans.

we have the first asian-american actress in hollywood. the first asian-american nba player. the first members of congress. these interns are the future of our community. they are the reason why we are here today. we're also here to celebrate and recognize one of the greatest members of our community. this year it is the first year we are giving the lifetime achievement award. the lifetime achievement award this year is going to secretary norman manetta. he is a trailblazer. a man who paved the way for many of us. he was the first asian-american mayor of a major city.

he was elected to congress 10 times. he was the first person to serve two presidents in a cabinet. first as secretary of commerce to president clinton, secretary of transportation to president bush. it was on 9/11 that secretary mineta showed us what he was made of. he made the call to ground all of the planes. it was secretary mineta who instituted the policy is -- policies at tsa. it was secretary mineta who prevented the profiling of arab- americans and muslim americans in our country. tonight, we honor secretary mineta and we give them -- him

this for a very special reason. i want to thank the san francisco giants for donating this bat. the reason why we are giving this back to secretary mineta is because of what happened to him when he was a young boy. secretary mineta was forced to relocate into the internment camps. as a young boy, he was taken to the train station by military police officers. as a young boy, he was a huge baseball fan and he had his prized possession with him, his baseball bat. military police saw the young boy with his baseball bat and said you are not taking it with you. that is a weapon.

what did they do? they took away his prized possession. later on in his life as a member of congress, a very generous person heard the story and offered him an autographed hank aaron bat. as a member of congress, you are not allowed to accept a gift valued over $200. so the government took away his back again. tonight, we cannot replace the bat that was taken away from that young boy. but we do give them something that we hope will take its place. ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the first ever recipient to of the lifetime achievement award for services rendered to the asian american community and services rendered to our nation. i give to you secretary mineta. [applause]

>> i cannot think of a more appropriate gift tonight than to receive this bat. i want to thank the mayor, and everyone, members of the board of supervisors, for hosting this event tonight. all of us who have had the privilege of serving in public service have gone to that point because we were standing on the shoulders of those who preceded us. i want everybody here to

remember that whenever they do in the future, bring everything you are and bring everything you want to the jobs you are going to be doing. there are tremendous opportunities that are out there. asian-pacific american heritage week is a time for all of us to be able to show the majority community what we are capable of doing. it is also a time when people in the asian pacific american community are learning about each other. many people say that the united states should be a melting pot. i did not believe in the melting pot theory. when you have a melting pot, you

put all the ingredients into the bowl, stir it up, and everybody loses their identity. in the asian pacific american community, there are over 150 languages, religions, cultures, everything you can think of. we do not want to lose that identity of our own history regardless of where our forefathers have come from. i want everybody to be proud to of the language of their forbearers, the religion, the history, the culture, and the arts. again, i do not want us to lose our identity and the community in this great nation. again, thank you very much to

the members of the boards for this wonderful gift bestowed upon me, and let's go ahead to continue to hit the ball park -- hit the ball at the ballpark. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we will bring up our founder to say a few last words. we would like to ask all of the previous speakers to come up for a photograph. it is the hard work of these board members -- without their hard work, none of this would happen. thank you to everyone.

>> we would also like for the judicial officers in the audience to come up as well.

if you are a sponsor, please come on up. we will ask the founder to speak a few words.

ladies and gentlemen, we will start our cultural program after words. food will be served in the four corners of the program is going on. i present you the founder. >> thank you very much. thank you. i especially want to thank the organizers and the leaders of the event. i want to thank you for coming here to celebrate the heritage month. i especially want to thank the state leaders, some are here, and some are not. enjoy the rest of the celebration. have a good time, take care. thank you.

>> ladies and gentlemen, i would like to give a round of applause to our emceed tonight. tonight.